The South African virus variant, known as 501Y.V2, has sparked serious concern, and the strain has already been described as more infectious than the COVID-19 virus identified at the start of the pandemic. In South Africa, it has rapidly become dominant in the country’s coastal areas. Though more transmissible, it does not appear to cause more severe illness at this time, he added. Gottlieb’s comments came just days after he warned that the South African strain may "obviate" other countermeasures, including antibody drugs. "The South Africa variant is very concerning right now because it does appear that may it obviate some of our medical countermeasures, particularly the antibody drugs," Gottlieb said when speaking to CNBC’s Shepard Smith late Tuesday.

Source: Fox News January 08, 2021 19:18 UTC